Here’s a few little illustrations that kind of teared me up a bit. See, back in elementary school me and a few buddies took it upon ourselves to start our own wrestling federations. We invented wrestlers, drew them in our scribblers, then used dice to allow them to fight. We kept track of wins and losses, who was champion, etc.

Being a raging nostalgist, I hung onto my wrestlers all these years. The AWF (Awsome Wrestling Federation… complete with misspelling) is still alive and strong in the Signalnoise Studio, and last week I decided it was time to revive some of my favourite characters from 1988. Seen above are the illustrations, as well as a side-by-side comparison to my drawings from 1988. Man, I could burn off those wrestler drawings in 5 minutes back then… now it takes me about 3 hours to illustrate them. That kid was a genius.

Revisiting these drawings truly feels like I’m breaching the time barrier to collaborate with my 10-year-old self. Little did I know back then that these characters would still be with me 26 years later.

Super proud to be participating in the HAS BROS art show in November at The Dart Gallery in my hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. My buddies Dave Howlett and Eric Miller have been spearheading this thing for the past while, and I’m pumped to unleash the news. Art based on toys from the 80s?! How can I NOT be all over that?

Here’s the official show info…

HAS BROS is a new art show featuring work inspired by 1980s toy franchises like MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, and more! Running at The Dart Gallery from November 9-20, HAS BROS will feature new pieces by some of the top artistic talent from the Maritimes and beyond. Contributors will include comic artists like Nick Bradshaw (WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN), Jordyn Bochon (CUIRRO), Andrew Power (APTITUDE TEST), Dave Howlett (SLAM-A-RAMA), graphic designers like Eric Miller of Dartmouth Clothing Company, James White of Signalnoise Studios, Paul Panfalone (AKA Paul Pants), Joshua M. Smith (AKA Hydro74), and many more! Prints of all the pieces will be on sale at the gallery as well. No batteries required, no assembly needed, no parental supervision necessary!

As for me, I’ll be submitting a new little series of StarKade prints to the show. 4 brand new fun character illustrations (edition of 25 each) and a rare mystery one. I’ll have sets on sale at the show on November 9, then any remaining stock will be available in my online store the following Tuesday (November 12). Fun!

I’ll be announcing the new StarKade prints the week of the show. Don’t change that channel…

I teased this image on my Instagram and Facebook a few days ago, but it’s time to clear the air.

Here’s the deal. As I posted last week, StarKade: Series 1 sold out, which came as a huge surprise… had no idea so many of you would take an interest in my silly illustrations of wrestlers, and I’m eternally grateful. Shipping will be starting next week once I have all the supplies, and once I return from Europe (where I currently am). Which brings me to the Golden Ticket Belt.

If you ordered a set of all StarKade: Series 1 prints, you already know you have a chance of getting 1 of 10 secret variant prints. BUT, as a reward for supporting the project I’m upgrading things. 1 of you will be receiving the Golden Ticket Belt, which is redeemable for a 1/1 custom illustration of your choice. That’s right. The winner and I will hash-out what wrestler they’d like me to illustrate, and I’ll do it up nice and send them a 1 of a kind original print for their StarKade collection. Certain rules apply. Never done anything like this before, and man am I excited.

The ticket is being printed as we speak by the kind folks at Moxy Ox… and they’re making sure this thing gleams like nothing else. Stay tuned to my Twitter as shipping starts next week!

About

James White is a visual artist, designer and speaker living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. He makes posters and all kinds of cool stuff. Read more